The Guilford County Board of Commissioners has named a new member to the Piedmont Triad Airport Authority to fill the empty county-selected seat left by the death of Koury Corp. President Steve Showfety.
The board named local developer Chris Dunbar to that highly sought after position and Dunbar recently attended his first Airport Authority meeting as a board member.
The seven-member authority – with the members selected by the cities and counties that PTIA serves – oversees the airport’s major decisions and strategic initiatives, and it votes on the allocation of large amounts of federal funds and other money each year.
Dunbar, a pilot, is a co-owner of Blue Ridge Companies, a development firm he formed in 1997 with fellow developer David Couch.
Whenever a seat on the Airport Authority comes open, there are a lot of people who want it – and Dunbar applied in November to fill the seat that’s appointed by the Guilford County Board of Commissioners. In his successful application, he wrote that he was very active in the community, holding board seats with both the Greensboro and High Point Chambers of Commerce. He also noted that he is a member of the executive board of the Triad Real Estate Building Industry Coalition (TREBIC) and he regularly works with local economic development leaders with a priority of bringing jobs to the community.
“As an instrument rated pilot who regularly experiences our airport from a General Aviation standpoint,” he wrote, “I will bring a unique perspective to issues this Board will face in the future.”
Dunbar added, “In my role as a commercial and residential real estate developer, I routinely have to deal with issues surrounding environmentally sensitive issues, engineering, architectural and financial concerns much like what the Authority experiences before it can expand its footprint or attract a new user to our airport.”
He also noted that he has a working relationship with NCDOT officials because his company’s developments frequently involve public improvements.
Dunbar said it’s an honor to serve in this important capacity on the Airport Authority and it’s one he takes very seriously.
